Comments on: Kitchen Flops and Disasters

By: Dee D.

Dee D. — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 01:02:05 +0000

Aww lauren, it happens to the best of us :/ I bet the chiffon pie still tasted great Oh just to let you know: Most tropical fruits(kiwi, maybe pineapple and maybe mango?) have bromelin an enzyme that counter acts the gelatins effects.

By: Em

Em — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 08:48:10 +0000

Kiwi fruit has something in it that means it won’t set – in anything! When I was little I used to put fruit in jelly (er, jello?) and let it set, but kiwi would leave the jelly in a horrid mush. Poor kiwis. They should come with a disclaimer.

I’m browsing this post as my banana and walnut loaf burns in the oven – whilst still being raw in the middle. Go figure :/

By: Alta

Alta — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:34:11 +0000

I’ve had my fair share of flops, especially when it comes to gluten-free baking! I had a soupy “cream” pie I made for Mother’s Day! I mentioned my disgusting steak and kidney pie from Daring Bakers a few months back. And it took me two fails before I successfully pulled off croquembouche. I made brownies last night that were goo in the middle. Whoops. I made angel food cake with my daughter, and subbed coconut flour as one of the gluten-free flours, only to have an off-tasting, rubbery cake. Gross. It’s great that we keep trying, and accept that these failures are a part of learning! It’s just tough if we have a few days in a row of failures – then digging out of the “slump” seems more difficult!

By: @laurenlankford

@laurenlankford — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:32:51 +0000

hey lady. man this blog is fantastic. i’ll be sending it around to all my GF friends.

just wanted to stop by and thank you for being part of love bomb. <3

- lauren

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:40:24 +0000

I made this really great chicken + pesto pizza with big slices of tomato and mozzarella cheese on a freshly made whole wheat flour crust. Well, since my pan is close to ancient I decided to line it with foil as I was out of parchment paper.

Well, the pizza stuck to the foil and I had to scrap it all of with a spatula. I still tried to eat most of it (see: pour college student) but I would find scraps of foil in my pizza-mush during those attempts.

Oh, well! Lesson learned!

By: Shawn

Shawn — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:55:19 +0000

Haha! I love looking back on the flops and having a good chuckle. One of my first attempts at Asian food (a simple sweet and sour chicken recipe) turned into an oddly clear, generally bland-tasting goop. (http://newchefsontheblock.blogspot.com/2010/05/sweet-and-sour-chicken-fail.html) And then there was the one time that I tried to make a bunch of brownie-cakes for Christmas gifts and somehow managed to forget about them while they were in the oven. An hour and a half later, I happened to see a commercial for ice cream being served over a brownie. “OH NO! THE BROWNIES!” I screamed and ran to the kitchen. They’d become little more than rock-hard black bricks at that point. :/

That said, the flops are certainly part of the cooking process. It’s because of the flops that we can really appreciate the amazing meals!

By: Janna M

Janna M — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:50:52 +0000

What a wonderful post! I’ve had so many flops but only a few that I’ve documented with photos. You’ve inspired me to write about them.

By: Uncle Hannah

Uncle Hannah — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 05:18:34 +0000

I hear you!

I can’t even remember the tons of flops I’ve had. I’ve been flopping since I was a pre-teen, at least. I remember making smoothies in different colors and then pouring them into cookie cutters and freezing them. That wasn’t that great of an idea…boring and kinda icky-tasting. Some ideas sound like fun but in the execution something is lost.

I often make substitutions because I bake gluten and dairy free and I’m often too impatient or don’t have all the right ingredients. I made some gluten-free sugar cookies that were decent texture-wise but my sister said they tasted like meat! (WTF)…

Anyway, thanks for sharing!

By: Hannah

Hannah — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 02:09:57 +0000

Lauren, I love this post. I’ve had quite a few kitchen flops – I was making muffins once, and I added 3/4 cups of oil instead of 1/4. Ick! Oh! And one time I made granola and used salted butter, salted sunflower seeds and added salt. I had to spit it out!

By: Debbie

Debbie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 23:53:48 +0000

Lauren,
This is too funny and very refreshing to see the flops! I am very impressed with your blog. My boys will never let me forget the failed goldfish crackers and I still can’t figure out how I turned an entire pan of uncooked muffins upside in my hot oven! Disaster! I look forward to visiting again soon.